Kurt Messick is currently on faculty at Ivy Tech Community College teaching astronomy, and has served as chaplain at the Bell Trace retirement community for the past 20 years. Prior to this, he served for a decade as professor of philosophy and religious studies at the American Military University (APUS) based in West Virginia. Previous professional posts include working as director of communications at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, director of public relations at Ivy Tech, parliamentary aide in the House of Commons (London), quality control manager at Bibliogem (a software development firm), and various other work to keep life together. His education includes time spent at the aforementioned AMU and CTS, as well as Indiana University, Oxford, University of London, Swinburne University (Australia), South Africa Theological Seminary, and, currently, Lexington Theological Seminary. Kurt currently lieves with a housemate and his cat, over whom custody may be disputed, and several volunteer cats from around the neighbourhood. When not in Bloomington, he can generally be found in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. He describes himself as "the Florence Foster Jenkins of poetry," but at least he's aware that some of the notes might not sound right to some, if not most, of the audiences.